Looking Back at Kelvin Sampson's Historical Tenure With the Houston Cougars
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This past Saturday, Houston Cougars men's basketball head coach Kelvin Sampson announced that he would not be retiring and would instead be returning to the Houston Cougars for his 13th season as head coach of the team.
Sampson, 70, wrapped up his 12th year with another Sweet 16 appearance with the Coogs, unfortunately ending in a 65-55 loss to the Illinois Fighting Illini, denying Houston a second straight appearance in the national championship game.
Though both the coach and school are searching for their first national championship titles, Sampson's time in Houston has certainly had its subliminal moments, and here is a look back at them.
A Trip Down Memory Lane
Sampson was hired by the Cougars as head coach on April 2, 2014, after spending three years as an assistant with the Houston Rockets, keeping him in Space City to further his coaching career.
The first few years, like most when a team is working under a new system, weren't the most memorable in the minds of Houston basketball fans, as the team went 13-19 in Sampson's first year and couldn't make it out of the first round of the NIT Tournament.
That was until the 2018 season, when Sampson led Houston to their first AP Top 25 finish and first NCAA Tournament win since 1984, defeating San Diego State before falling to Michigan in the Round of 32.
2019 saw the Cougars post a 33-4 record, the best record in the American Athletic Conference, and made it all the way to the Sweet 16, where they were bested by the Kentucky Wildcats.
After COVID-19 canceled the 2020 NCAA Tournament, Sampson and the Cougars came back with redemption in 2021, winning their first conference championship since 2010 and making it all the way to the Final Four, where they were defeated by their fellow Texans and eventual national champions, the Baylor Bears.
In 2022, Sampson led Houston to a 32-6 record that moved them past UAB, Illinois, and Arizona in "The Big Dance" before tasting elimination at the hands of the Villanova Wildcats.
After 2023 and 2024 saw two more Sweet 16 appearances, it seemed that 2025 would finally be the year that both Sampson and the University of Houston would finally be able to call themselves national champions, finally getting the opportunity against the Florida Gators in the title game after compiling a 35-5 record.
Alas, it was not to be, as Todd Golden and the Florida Gators would be the ones to cut the nets with a 65-63 win, further denying Sampson and the Coogs that glory of hoisting the trophy.
And with Sampson back with redemption on his mind after last year's shortcoming, and bringing back elite talent such as Kingston Flemings and Chris Cenac Jr., don't expect any drop in the level of production from the Houston Cougars.
